The Village of Chase is considering asking for train whistles to stop being used at one of the crossings through town.

Council has asked staff to look into possibly ceasing train whistles at the Pine Street crossing, where both CN and CP trains travel through.

The decision came after resident Reg Greenfield, who has worked five decades in the railroad industry, did a presentation to council. Greenfield says Transport Canada has an act that allows municipalities to ask for train whistles to stop being blown, if the crossing meets safety requirements.

“And if there’s any people or animals on the track, they’re still legally obligated to blow their whistles. So there is no unsafe act there, in fact if it was unsafe Transport Canada wouldn’t even consider it, and they allow it all over this great country of ours.”

Greenfield says the village should also look into upgrading the crossing at Aylmer Street so that train whistles could eventually be stopped there as well.

“The biggest thing with Pine Street is 75 per cent of the population lives east of Pine Street, where the whistles are the loudest, and Aylmer Street is west of that and there’s a less populated area there,” Greenfield says.

“The Village of Chase can pretty much only expand on the northwest side of town where Aylmer Street is. Traffic is only going to get busier there, so that’s another crossing that should be considered for upgrades. Whether or not there’s grants available or the railroad would do it on their own is debatable.”